UN
official
Daniela Bas
said she could
not answer for
Ban, but that
her
department,
DESA, has
given all of
its views and
recommendation
and
now it's up to
the senior
level people
to formulate.
It all seems a
bit slow, and
contrary to
the UN's
claims for its
high level
event.

For
example, the
UN has had a
billion dollar
peacekeeping
mission in the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo for
a decade or
more, but DRC
has
not even
signed, much
less ratified,
the
Disabilities
Convention.
The
same is true,
though more
understandable,
in Somalia and
South Sudan.

This
comes while it
is still
UNclear if the
US would grant
a visa to
Sudan's
president,
because he is
indicted by
the
International
Criminal
Court, of
which the US
is not a
member.

The
US has not
ratified the
Disabilities
Convention (it
received only
61
of the needed
66 votes in
the US Senate
in December),
but Bas told
Inner City
Press that the
US government
has conducted
"walk-throughs"
to
make sure that
Monday's event
is accessible.

What
will NOT be
accessible to
the press this
coming week is
the General
Assembly Hall,
where Monday's
event will be
held. In
previous years
there have
been seats for
the media in
the back of
the GA Hall.
But
this year,
while
delegations
have had their
number of
seats reduced,
the media has
been
eliminated.

The
Free UN
Coalition for
Access@FUNCA_info has
fought this
and will
continue to.
FUNCA thanked
Friday's
speakers for
coming; Bas
said she used
to be a
journalist and
appreciates
"hard
questions."
There will be
more. Watch
this site.